Posted by Jonathan Bingham on June 10, 2022 under Blog | 
I’m in tears praising God for His presence, faithfulness, and kindness.
This morning in my quiet time, I read 1 Samuel 24-30 about a key time of David’s development. His “Biggest Issue” was that Saul and 3000 of his best warriors were chasing him to kill him due to Saul’s misplaced jealousy. And at this point, David had already proven unequivocally that he was not trying to kill Saul and in fact was completely loyal to him, and had received Saul’s assurance he would stop trying to kill him! It’s telling that this period in David’s life was what drove his writing a number of the Psalms.
With David’s “Biggest Issue” in the background, it’s really cool that God designed a little life lesson to remind him that He could and would vindicate him at the right time. 1 Samuel 25 contains the story of David’s interaction with Nabal, a rich man who David and his small band of warriors apparently served as a protective guard for some period of time. When David asked Nabal for food for his companions, Nabal refused. And as David was apt to do in those days, he gathered up his 600 troops and went to kill Nabal and take the food had requested, plus everything else.
Nabal’s wife Abigail (an “intelligent and beautiful” woman) heard what her worthless husband had done and that David was on his way to kill him. She quickly gathered a huge feast worth of food and drink and loaded up her donkeys to try to stop David and his men before they found Nabal. She found him, and her excellent persuasive speech and demeanor turned David’s anger, and even prompted him to bless her for her wise behavior and her stopping him from the mistake of taking the matter into his own hand.
Abigail left David and found her husband, who was hosting (and fully participating in) a big party. The next morning she told him what had happened, and the impact of what Abigail had saved him from stunned him into unconsciousness. Ten days later, he died.
In the bigger flow of David’s story, this could be seen as an irrelevant sideshow. But as you read David’s response in verse 39, you see that David saw God’s hand in his life, protecting him, vindicating him, and teaching him.
In reading this story in the bigger context, I realized that God was showing / reminding David that He was present with him, helping him, and could handle David’s concerns without him taking them into his own hands. And David learned the lesson, as evidenced in his next encounter with Saul’s army in the following chapter.
God used this smaller issue to help David deal with his “Biggest Issue”!
It’s not often that God not only gives me some sort of insight into His Word in my quiet time, but then nearly immediately plays it out in my own life. Today he did.
Like David, I have a “Biggest Issue”, as we probably all do. It feels incessant, intractable, and interminable. I often wonder if God will ever intervene, even for a moment of relief. Sometimes there is little hope it will ever go away.
Well, a little while after my quiet time, within four minutes of each other, I received a phone call and a text that instantly resolved two separate big issues I have been struggling with for over 1.5 years in one case, and two months in the other.
My immediate response to God was, “God, how do you do this?” He is so amazing in His power – and His timing! Even to the point that as I was beginning to praise God out loud for these two miracles, the song “Egypt” that happened to be playing on my computer confirmed, “You’re the God who fights for me, Lord of every victory, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” I can’t express my joy and gratitude!
And then God brought it home for me like he did for David. “I’m here! I’m able! If I can handle these matters in a moment as if they were nothing, I can handle your ‘Biggest Issue’, too. It’s just not time yet.”
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on December 23, 2013 under Blog |
I mention on my start page that the NTI four year church leader training materials, including the content I wrote on hermeneutics and Bible study, had been translated into Mandarin Chinese, read on camera, and hosted on a government approved web site. The web site traffic is skyrocketing and hundreds of Chinese Christians are using the resources to drive small group and house church discipleship and ministry. It is so exciting to be a part of that! For all of you who can understand Mandarin, here are the links to the three modules I wrote. (The videos are broken into 5-8 minute segments. These links will take you to the jumping off page for the videos for each separate module.)
2.7.1 Interpreting the Bible
2.7.2 Interpreting the Different Kinds of Biblical Writing
2.7.3 Bible Study Methods
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on December 22, 2013 under Blog |
I’ve read some great books, but Do Love, by Andrew Rankin, is one of the most important books I’ve ever read. It is a book that will change your life. It is changing mine. It will change your small group. I led my Bible study group of 30 through this book last fall, and it is dramatically changing the way we love one another. But the message of the book is not limited to or even primarily intended for the individual or small group. This is a book that would change a church, and most importantly, could change The Church.
There are lots of books that talk about love and many that even talk about the importance of Christians loving others. But the author leads you through clear and practical examples of our failure to love others, Jesus’ central focus on loving others above everything else that we’re so apt to put in front of it, our need for love, and how to practically, meaningfully, and consistently love others. It is this focus on a lifestyle of practically loving one another through meaningful actions for the good of another that uniquely sets this book apart from any other I have ever read.
Amazingly, given the author’s credentials, Do Love is written in a very popular, easy to read style and is filled with practical, real-world, and often too close to home examples. But at the same time it is a thoroughly biblical treatment of the love Jesus commended and commanded throughout His ministry. Dr. Rankin even gives those who appreciate formal theology an entire chapter dedicated to a proper systematic theological treatment of love, which he smartly highlights as optional for those less inclined.
On a related side note: In over 30 years of teaching Bible studies, this is only the second time I have ever taken a group through a book study. My concern is always, “are we studying the Bible or just doing a book review?” But Do Love worked perfectly as the basis for a 10-week Bible study series because of its clear biblical focus. The author provides a study guide in the back of the book that has both a biblical passage to begin the session and numerous questions to help drive discussion. And it was very interesting reading for the class members each week, so they came prepared to discuss the content. Honestly, I used very few of the discussion questions from the study guide because the material itself drove the discussion and naturally led to though-provoking questions and dialog. And if attendance is any indication, the study was well-received, as we had the highest and most consistent attendance during those 10 weeks that we have ever had.
All that being said, Do Love is not a “feel good” book. There are times reading Do Love when you may feel very unloving. I certainly did. And you may recognize that your group, your church, and overall The Church are not doing very well practicing the great commandment. That became very clear to me, too. Do Love may, in fact, be an indictment of The Church today and our shared departure from our “first love.” But that is only the beginning. After being challenged with that reality, the rest of the book drives and equips you to practical, consistent, tangible love for others in a way that will change your world, and that could change the world.
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on October 21, 2012 under Blog |
Hello, and welcome to my new web site, necessitated by Apple’s shutdown of .Mac back in June. Thank you, Apple.
As is obvious, or will become so very soon, I don’t post often to any of my blogs. Honestly, I’m extremely busy and don’t have noteworthy thoughts very often. But I will be posting Bible Study resources here as often as I develop them, and that’s the main purpose of this site.
I’ve migrated the posts from the old site over, so it will at least look like I’m prolific and active!
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on November 29, 2009 under Blog |
Just finished listening to a sermon from Andy Stanley. Wow, what a great word to our leaders in Washington! If they would only listen.
God and Country: God Has Left the Conversation
(Looks like they’ve stopped leaving older messages up on iTunes and now charge $1.00 for them. Sorry.)
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on January 22, 2009 under Blog |
Of course, first is the Bible. Read it. All of it. Seriously.
Then:
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
Good to Great – Jim Collins
Developing the Leader within You – John Maxwell
If Only He Knew – Gary Smalley (aka Hidden Keys of a Loving, Lasting Marriage)
The Dream Giver – Bruce Wilkinson
The Traveler’s Gift – Andy Andrews
Hinds Feet on High Places – Hannah Hurnard
Laws for Liberated Living – Manley Beasley (OOP)
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on July 25, 2008 under Blog |
“An army of soldiers, dedicated to Jesus Christ, who believe not only that He is God, but that He can fulfill every promise He has ever made, and that there isn’t anything too hard for Him.”
Dawson Trotman
http://www.discipleshiplibrary.com/pdfs/AA065.pdf
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on July 10, 2008 under Blog |
I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned it here before how much I am getting out of listening to Andy Stanley’s podcasts. He is the teacher I wish I were. It’s amazing for me to listen to him cover a topic I have taught on and hear him say the things I wish I had said. Wow!
Anyway, you can subscribe at:
iTunes link
I don’t know how far back you can go, but try to listen to “It Came from Within” and “Take It to the Limit.” But really they’re all good.
You’ll be blessed!
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on January 9, 2008 under Blog |
I was listening early these last two mornings to the message by Henry Blackaby I mentioned a few blog posts ago. Wow what a great great message. A statement he made (@39:22) really hit me:
“The greatest tragedy of our day is unbelief.”
As I listened to his message, and especially that statement, I couldn’t help think of our Bible study series from 2007 titled “Another Look at Faith”
Why can we not believe that “all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen?” (2 Cor. 1:20)
Posted by Jonathan Bingham on August 23, 2007 under Blog |
If your browser supports RSS feeds, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog and be notified whenever there is new content. That will allow all one of you who actually watch this site to not sit at your computer hitting the refresh button every five seconds waiting for my next installment. Ha!!!
